Felting needle

ABSTRACT

A felting needle having an elongated body portion of a quadrangular cross-sectional configuration defined by major and minor axes extending at right angles with respect to each other and having a fiber receiving recess formed on the center line of the minor axis at the lowermost end of the elongated body portion.

United States Patent [191 Foster 1 1 Apr. 17, 1973 I FELTING NEEDLE [76] Inventor: Edson P. Foster, 409 South 29th Street, P.O Box 527, Manitowoc, Wis. 54220 [22] Filed: Apr. 6, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 131,702

[52] US. Cl. ..28/4 N [51 Int. Cl. ..D04h 18/00 [58] Field of Search ..28/4 R, 4 N, 72.2 R

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sonman ..28/4 R X Glover ..28/72.2 R X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 50,561 9/1940 France 28/4 R 1,554,900 12/1968 France 1.28/4 R 1,554,901 12/1968 France .2814 R Primary Examiner--Louis K. Rimrodlt Att0rneyJohnson, Dienner, Emrich, Verbeck & Wagner [5 7] ABSTRACT 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FELTING NEEDLE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention has to do with felting needles that are particularly suitable for needle punching.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Felting needles are well known in the art and generally embody a body portion defining the actual working section of the needle that carries a plurality of barbs for penetrating a batt of fibrous material for compacting the latter by reciprocation of the needles relative thereto. These felting needles are manufactured in a variety of different cross-sectional shapes, such as square, round, twisted, grooved, concave (triangular with concave sides) and triangular.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a felting needle that is constructed as an elongated body portion shaped into a quadrangular cross-sectional configuration having major axis and a minor axis. One pair of side walls of the elongated body portion extend longitudinally and are centered about the longitudinal axis of the body portion. A fiber receiving recess is formed at the lowerv most end of the body portion between the second pair of side walls on the centerline of the longitudinal axis, and two pointed means are disposed on opposite sides of this recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FOR a better understanding of this invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a felting needle constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the lower end of the body portion of the needle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view taken from the right side of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, there is shown a felting needle constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention, which comprises an elongated body portion, indicated generally at 12 having a quadrangular cross section and a shank, indicated generally at 14 having a circular cross section. The upper end of the needle may be bent substantially at right angles to the shank 14 to provide a securing element or ear 16 for clamping between a base member and a clamping member of a conventional felting needle plate. The shank 14 tapers inwardly in a downward direction to provide a relatively small cross section at its juncture with the body portion 12.

The felting needle of my present invention may be made of any ordinary or conventional needle stock having the necessary mechanical strength, for example, steel wire.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the body portion 12 of the needle stock is formed with a substantially rectangular cross-sectional configuration having a major axis AA and a minor axis B--B. The body portion 12 is formed of a first pair of planar sidewalls 13 and 15 extending generally parallel to the major axis and a second pair of convex sidewalls 17 and 19 at opposite ends of the planar sidewalls 13, 15 centered about the major axis AA. A fiber receiving recess 20 is milled inwardly of configuration which assists in the penetration of the fiber batt and base material. The inner end wall 30 of the fiber-receiving recess 20 is formed as a convex surface centered about the major axis A-A to provide smooth surface for engaging the fibers as the needle moves through the fiber batt.

The above-described felting needle is particularly suitable for needle-punching fibers, fiber-tufted materials, and looped fabrics. Very satisfactory results have been obtained in using the felting needle constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention to punch through a vinyl base for it provides a very accurate means of spacing the fibers in the vinyl base to produce a uniform density.

It will be appreciated that the: load capacity of the fiber receiving slot 20 is determined by the depth and width of the slot. These dimensions will vary in accordance with the particular application of the needle. Although it is preferred that the inner wall 30 have a convex surface, since'it eliminates sharp cutting edges that could damage the fibers during the punching operation, it will be appreciated that other configurations could be used to shape the end wall. Very satisfactory results have been obtained by making the major axis dimension at least twice the minor axis dimension.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various other body cross-sectional configurations and fiber-receiving recess configurations may be employed without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. I l

The invention claimed is: I

l. A felting needle having an elongated body portion of quadrangular cross-sectional configuration having a longitudinal axis and having a major axis and a minor axis extending at right angles with respect to each other and transversely of said longitudinal axis, said body portion having one pair of side walls extending longitudinally thereof and centered about the minor axis of said body portion, said body portion having a second pair of side walls extending longitudinally thereof and centered about the major axis of said body portion, a fiber receiving recess at the lowermost end of said body portion formed between the second pair of side walls and centered about the'longitudinal axis of said body portion, and downwardly tapering pointed means on opposite sides of said recess at said lowermost end of said body portion.

2. The felting needle of claim 1 in which surfaces of said one pair of side walls are convex.

3. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the major axis of said body portion exceeds the minor axis by at least twice.

4. The felting needle of claim 1 in which said body portion is of substantially rectangular cross section.

5. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the said pointed means on opposite sides of said recess have substantially semi-conical configurations.

6. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the inner end face of said recess on the center line of said minor axis is of convex configuration.

7. The felting needle of claim 1 in which said recess has planar and parallel sidewalls.

8. A felting needle having an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis, a downwardly tapered point of a cross-sectional configuration having a major axis and a minor axis extending at right angles with respect to each other and transversely of said longitudinal axis, and a fiber receiving recess in the lowermost end of said point and centered about the longitudinal axis of said body portion.

9. A felting needle having an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis, a downwardly tapered point of elliptical cross-sectional configuration at the lowermost end of said body portion, and a fiber receiving recess in the lowermost end of said point and centered about the longitudinal axis of said body portion. 

1. A felting needle having an elongated body portion of quadrangular cross-sectional configuration having a longitudinal axis and having a major axis and a minor axis extending at right angles with respect to each other and transversely of said longitudinal axis, said body portion having one pair of side walls extending longitudinally thereof and centered about the minor axis of said body portion, said body portion having a second pair of side walls extending longitudinally thereof and centered about the major axis of said body portion, a fiber receiving recess at the lowermost end of said body portion formed between the second pair of side walls and centered about the longitudinal axis of said body portion, and downwardly tapering pointed means on opposite sides of said recess at said lowermost end of said body portion.
 2. The felting needle of claim 1 in which surfaces of said one pair of side walls are convex.
 3. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the major axis of said body portion exceeds the minor axis by at least twice.
 4. The felting needle of claim 1 in which said body portion is of substantially rectangular cross section.
 5. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the said pointed means on opposite sides of said recess have substantially semi-conical configurations.
 6. The felting needle of claim 1 in which the inner end face of said recess on the center line of said minor axis is of convex configuration.
 7. The felting needle of claim 1 in which said recess has planar and parallel sidewalls.
 8. A felting needle having an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis, a downwardly tapered point of a cross-sectional configuration having a major axis and a minor axis extending at right angLes with respect to each other and transversely of said longitudinal axis, and a fiber receiving recess in the lowermost end of said point and centered about the longitudinal axis of said body portion.
 9. A felting needle having an elongated body portion having a longitudinal axis, a downwardly tapered point of elliptical cross-sectional configuration at the lowermost end of said body portion, and a fiber receiving recess in the lowermost end of said point and centered about the longitudinal axis of said body portion. 